U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and Congressman Sam Graves announced that Missouri will receive an $81.2 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build a new I-70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport.
The grant will enable a $240 million project to replace the existing four-lane I-70 bridge with a six-lane structure built just to the south of the current location, as well as reconstruct the Route BB interchange just east of the bridge. The existing bridge, which was built in 1960, will continue to be used during construction, meaning there will be very few impacts to traffic.
Receipt of the grant also will trigger $301 million in state bonding, authorized by the Missouri General Assembly during the 2019 session, that will repair or replace another 215 bridges across the state. The bonds will be repaid out of state general revenue over a seven-year period. It also will free up $301 million that was already committed to these bridge projects in the current Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to enable other high-priority transportation needs across the state. Projects will be identified in cooperation with local planning partners.
The grant will enable MoDOT to begin the environmental assessment and design for the new bridge, with construction likely to begin sometime in 2021.